Let There Be Lights!: A Beginner's Guide to Outdoor Christmas Decorating

By Christopher M. Donnells

Have you ever wondered how some people build magnificent Christmas displays with thousands of lights? Have you ever wanted to build your own display but thought it was too confusing and difficult to build? This book will take you through the very basics of Christmas decorating where you will learn:

How to save money on Christmas lights as well as the various types of lights available
Techniques and tools that will make putting your lights up easier than you thought
How to fix your Christmas lights instead of replacing them year after year
How to save hundreds of dollars over store bought decorations by making your own
How to use your Christmas display to benefit your favorite charity
Tips on storing your decorations as well as protecting yourself against vandals

Make this the year that your home shines brighter than the North Star, and puts a smile on the face of every child who admires a true Christmas display!

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 7, 2008
• ISBN: 9780595621705

Christopher M. Donnells

Christopher Donnells has spent many years decorating the outside of his own home for the Christmas season. This book incorporates all that he?s learned and humorously presents it in an easy-to-read format. Recently, Christopher combined his love for Christmas with his charity work by collecting donations for the Connecticut Food Bank through his website www.thathouseinmilford.com. Christopher lives in Milford, Connecticut, with his wife, Ann and his dog ZuZu.

Book preview

Copyright © 2008 by Christopher M. Donnells

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iiUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-0-595-52106-7 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-595-62170-5 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1

Safety First?

Chapter 2

Lights, Lights and More Lights

Chapter 3

Just Hangin’ In There … Clips and More

Chapter 4

Building Your Display

Chapter 5

Snakes in the Grass

Chapter 6

Watts Up With You?

Chapter 7

Protect Yourself!

Chapter 8

Tear Down and Storage

Chapter 9

Good Lights Gone Bad

Chapter 10

Get Known! Websites and Fundraising

Afterthought

Christmas Links Mentioned

This book is dedicated to:

To my loving wife Ann I thank you for walking into my life on that cool summer night. You are the most special person in my life … my best friend. Your words of encouragement, as well as your love and support, make the most seemingly impossible dreams possible. I love you honey!

Without a Mom like mine, I truly don’t believe that Christmas would be as special and meaningful as it is today. Mom, thanks for all that you did during my childhood to make those memories last until today and well into the future.

Acknowledgements 

Dad, thank you for supplying me with the detailed illustrations found within this book. Ray, thank you for tirelessly adding circuit after circuit year after year. Andy, I trust you as an electrician and value you as a friend.

Prologue 

So, you want to start decorating your home for Christmas?

Congratulations! This is a great hobby; one that everyone can enjoy, but beware it can put a pretty big dent in your pocketbook. Trust me. But that discussion is for another chapter.

Before I get started, I wanted to preface this book with a remark. Merry Christmas! We tend not to say that to each other anymore. We have all become so politically correct in saying, Happy Holidays that we are slowly forgetting about Christmas and the true meaning of the word. If you do not like me saying, Merry Christmas or using the word Christmas, that’s too bad. Enjoy the book anyways! With that out of the way, I’d like to continue.

I started decorating our house the year after my wife Ann and I got married. Nothing too fancy, just about 1,500 lights outlining our house. Not that much in standards of exterior illumination, but nonetheless, it brightened up everyone’s Christmas spirit. After the Christmas season was over and the lights were put away, everyone kept asking, How many lights are you adding to your display next year? Unfortunately, they seem to ask that every year. Well, you can’t let your fans down. Can you? In 2007, we had 30,000 lights; of course, that will increase next year.

You may be thinking, Boy, that seems like a lot of work for a month’s enjoyment, but it is definitely worth it. The time and effort put into your display shows. Go around your neighborhood and you can tell the difference between the houses that didn’t take a lot of time planning out their decorations and the ones who did … no matter how many lights they have on their homes.

This book is simple. It will start from the very basics such as the different types of lights on the market to designing and building your own display and everything in between. Everything contained within has been learned mostly from trial and error. There is no right or wrong way to decorate your home. Think of your house as a blank canvas. You’re the painter. Your palette: Christmas lights. What you’ll find yourself saying after each year is, I can see some lights there, or Maybe I can change that around over there. I can’t tell you how many times, in the middle of December no less, that I’ve been laying in bed thinking about the next year’s display. That’s the fun part … designing it. I hope that you will gain some great ideas for your display from this book and have a good time decorating. Remember, this is a hobby, not a chore.

With that said, let’s get started on our journey through the never-ending, burning a hole in your pocket hobby of Christmas decorating.

I wish you the very best in building your display! Have fun and enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Chris

Chapter 1 

Safety First?  

Before we get started discussing lights, I want to preface this entire conversation by saying that I am not an electrician. I don’t even play one on T.V. Electricity should be taken seriously as you are dealing with household current which is enough to kill you if you are not cautious. Since most of our work will be performed outside in the